Nielsen Launches VOD Reporting

The Nielsen Company announced Jan. 24 it is launching a new service that will track video-on-demand usage using transactions over set-top boxes.

Nielsen On Demand Reporting and Analytics (NORA) will be commercially available as part of the company's DigitalPlus service, and will incorporate data from VideoScan and EDI (Entertainment Data Inc.).

“Nielsen is very pleased to build on the success of our trial work over the past year with the commercial launch of NORA,” said Holly Leff-Pressman, Nielsen SVP of on demand and TV practices. “ … Nielsen is well-equipped to help our clients make the most informed business decisions regarding the on-demand distribution platform.”

Comcast already has signed on to provide data so Nielsen can see what people are watching on VOD, how much they're paying for it and how often they're using it. The data will cover VOD transactions starting from Jan. 1, 2007.

“On demand usage is skyrocketing with more than 275 million programs viewed monthly on Comcast alone,” said Derek Harrar, SVP and GM of video products for Comcast. “Our work with Nielsen will help us better understand what our customers like to watch.”